Buyer Stamp Duty Singapore: Rates, Tiers and a Worked Example

Buyer stamp duty Singapore — formally the Buyer's Stamp Duty, or BSD — is the one property tax nobody escapes. Whatever your passport, however many homes you already own, if you buy real estate in Singapore you pay BSD on the purchase. It is calculated on the higher of the purchase price or the market value, on a tiered schedule that climbs from 1% to 6% for residential property, and it falls due within 14 days of your contract. This guide sets out the current rates, shows exactly how the tax is computed on a S$3.2 million home, and clears up the most common confusion of all: the difference between BSD and ABSD.

Buyer's stamp duty rates in Singapore for 2026

The BSD schedule below has applied to residential property since 15 February 2023 and remains unchanged as at August 2026. The rates are marginal — each rate applies only to the slice of the price that falls inside its band, not to the whole amount.

Non-residential property — offices, shophouses with commercial use, industrial units — follows a simpler ladder: 1%, 2%, 3% and 4% across the same first four bands, with a top rate of 5% on the amount above S$1.5 million. Mixed-use purchases are apportioned between the residential and non-residential components.

Buyer's stamp duty for Singapore citizens, PRs and foreigners

Here is the point that surprises many buyers: BSD does not care who you are. A Singapore citizen buying a first flat, a Permanent Resident buying a second condo and a foreigner buying a Sentosa Cove villa all pay BSD on exactly the same schedule. Nationality and property count only enter the picture through the Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty — ABSD — which is a separate tax levied on top of BSD. Under the ABSD rates in force since 27 April 2023, Singapore citizens pay 0% on a first residential property, 20% on a second and 30% on a third; PRs pay 5%, 30% and 35%; and foreigners pay a flat 60% on any residential purchase, though nationals of the United States and a handful of EFTA states are treated as citizens under free trade agreements. I've broken down the mechanics in my guide to calculating ABSD in Singapore and the position for overseas buyers in ABSD for foreigners, explained.

BSD vs ABSD vs SSD: which tax is which

Three stamp duties touch Singapore residential property, and buyers routinely mix them up. BSD is the base tax every buyer pays on every purchase. ABSD is the additional tax that depends on your profile and how many residential properties you already hold. SSD — Seller's Stamp Duty — is different again: it is paid by the seller, and only when a property is disposed of within the first few years of purchase. If you are thinking about your exit as well as your entry, my article on Seller's Stamp Duty rates and timing covers when SSD bites and when it falls away entirely.

Worked example: BSD on a S$3.2 million home

Say you are buying a home at S$3.2 million, in line with its valuation. Working through the tiers:

A useful shortcut once you cross the top band: BSD on the first S$3 million is always S$119,600, so for any residential price above that, the tax is S$119,600 plus 6% of the excess. Two other reference points worth memorising: a S$1.5 million purchase attracts S$44,600, and a S$1 million purchase attracts S$24,600. Remember that if the property is priced below its market valuation, IRAS assesses BSD on the valuation, not the discounted price — a point that matters in related-party sales and some estate transactions.

When and how do you pay BSD?

BSD is due within 14 days of exercising your Option to Purchase or signing the Sale and Purchase Agreement — or within 30 days of the document being received in Singapore, if it was signed overseas. In practice your conveyancing lawyer stamps the document through the IRAS e-Stamping portal and collects the money from you at the same time as the exercise fee, so the practical implication is cash flow: the tax falls due long before your bank loan is disbursed. On a S$3.2 million purchase you need that S$131,600 available upfront, alongside your downpayment. CPF Ordinary Account savings can generally be used to pay or reimburse BSD on an eligible property, subject to CPF's rules — for completed resale purchases this typically works on a reimbursement basis, so the cash still has to be found first. Late stamping attracts penalties, and an unstamped agreement cannot be used as evidence in court, so this is not a deadline to test.

Budgeting BSD into a S$2–4 million purchase

At the price points I work in, BSD is rarely the deciding factor — but it is consistently underestimated, because buyers anchor on the old pre-2023 top rate of 4%. Between S$1.5 million and S$3 million every additional dollar is taxed at 5%, and above S$3 million at 6%, so on a landed or luxury condo purchase the BSD line alone often exceeds S$100,000 before any ABSD is considered. If you are weighing a purchase and want the full acquisition cost mapped out — BSD, any ABSD, legal fees, and the financing structure that ties it together — that is exactly the work I do with buyers before they ever step into a showflat.

One last point for owners restructuring rather than buying outright: BSD applies to transfers as well as open-market purchases. Decoupling a jointly owned property, moving a home into a trust, or buying over a co-owner's half-share in a divorce or estate settlement all attract BSD on the value of the share transferred. Factor it in early, and none of these numbers will surprise you at exercise.